Sanitary body dryer



March 28, 1961 w. E. MURPHY 2,977,455

SANITARY BODY DRYER Filed Dec. 4, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORATTORNEYS March 28, 1961 w. E. MURPHY SANITARY BODY DRYER 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Dec. 4, 1959 my M M m ATTORNEYS 11. Zx/ZRKZZ 3 971 7/24.?24

SANITARY BODY DRYER William E. Murphy, 404 Valley St., Pulaski, Va.Filed Dec. 4, 1959, Ser. No. 857,458

4 1 Claims. (21. 219-49 This invention relates to electrical dryingdevices and more particularly to a sanitary drying device forinstallation in a bathroom for use in drying off after a shower or bath,and thereby eliminate the use of towels.

Electrically heated drying devices for drying the hands or the hands andface by means of a blast of heated air are well known. However, suchdevices would be unsuitable for drying the whole body, since the nozzleof these known devices must be directed sequentially to various parts ofthe body and it would be very unsatisfactory for drying the back.

Consequentially, it is an object of the present invention to provide abody drying device which operates automatically to dry the entire body,once it has been started, and all that the user need do is stand infront of it and turn his body to present his front, back and sides tothe dryer sequentially.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a body dryer whichmay also be useful for other drying or heating jobs.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art, from the following descriptionwhen read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sanitary dryer of the presentinvention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure2;

Figure 4 is a partial vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-4 ofFigure 2;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Figure4;

Figure 6 is a wiring diagram of the circuit for operating the reversingmotor for traversing movement of the heater cage.

The sanitary dryer of the present invention will be described withrespect to such a dryer built into the wall when the building is beingconstructed, and located at the end of the bathtub with portions of thevertical traversing mechanism mounted on the studding of the wall.However, it will be realized that self-contained units may be providedand attached to completed walls by means of simple brackets.

Adverting now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figures 1 and 2,there is shown at 10 a sanitary body dryer mounted in a cabinet, whichis generally rectilinear in shape and substantially as wide as a personsbody. The cabinet 10 extends upwardly from the rim of the bathtub to aheight of six feet from the bottom of the bathtub, or substantially tothe height of the top of the head of the tallest persons using thedevice. The cabinet 10 is made of sheet metal such as steel, aluminum orthe like, having a coating of paint or enamel, such as baked-on enamel.The sides 12, bottom 13 and top 14 provide a box-like enclosure havingan open front 15 United States Patent 0 covered by a guard 16, which ismade in the form of a grill, as shown in Figure l.

A pair of vertical T-shaped tracks 17 are mounted within the cabinet 10on the opposite walls 12, and a heater cage 18 having side walls 19, top20, bottom 21 and back wall 22 is mounted for vertical movement on thetracks 17 by means of a pair of C-shaped track followers 23 mounted onthe outer side of the heater cage walls 19. A motor 24 is mounted withinthe heater cage 18 by means of a bracket 25 attached to the bottom 21,and a fan blade 26 is mounted on the shaft of the motor to blow air outof the cage 18. The top 20 and bottom 21 are perforated as at 27, toprovide air intakes into the cage 18.

A heating coil 28 is mounted in front of the fan 26 to heat the airbeing moved out of the cage by the fan. The fan motor 24 and heatingcoil 28 are connected in parallel to an electrical outlet 29 mounted onthe bottom 21 of the cage 18. A retractible cable 30, having a steelcoiled spring incorporated therein may be conveniently used to connectthe outlet 29 with a similar outlet 31 on the bottom 13 of the cabinet10. Wire cable 32 completes the circuitry to an operating switch 33,which is connected with the house wiring (not shown).

To provide the heater cage 18 with a vertical traversing movement, anelectrical reversing motor 34 is mounted on the member 35 in thebuilding wall adjacent the cabinet 10. A reduction gear box 36 has itsinput shaft connected to the shaft 37 of the motor, and a drum 38 ismounted on its output shaft. A rope 39 is attached to the top of theheater cage 18 by means of an eye bolt 40, as best seen in Figures 2 and3. The rope 39 passes upward through an aperture 41 in the top 14 of thecabinet 10 and over a pulley 42, mounted in a bracket 43 attached to thecrosspiece 44 in the building wall, thence through an aperture in thestud 44a and twice around the drum 38 and under a pulley 45, mounted onthe wall of the room and through an aperture 45a in the room wall, overa pulley 46 mounted in a bracket 47 attached to the underside of thecrosspiece 35, thence down to a pulley 48 mounted on the crosspiece 49by means of a bracket 50 and through apertures in the studding 44a andcabinet wall 12 to a pair of pulleys 51, 51a mounted on the bottom 13 ofthe cabinet 10, and then fastened to the eyebolt 52 mounted dependinglyfrom the bottom 21 of the heater cage 18. Upon operation of the motor 34in one direction the heater cage 18 will travel on its vertical tracks17 in one direction, and upon reversal of the motor the heater cage 18will travel in the opposite direction.

The reversing of the motor 24 may be accomplished by the use ofelectrical and mechanical components, such as for example, the meansused for illustrating the invention in which spring-biased solenoidcoils are employed as limit switches.

Adverting now to Figure 2, and more particularly to the wiring diagramshown in Figure 6, there are shown upper and lower solenoids 53 and 54,respectively, having outwardly spring-biased armatures S5, 56,respectively. The armature 55 is provided with a switch blade element57, which operates to close a circuit through the switch points 58, 58'when the armature is in its innermost position and to close anothercircuit between the switch points 59, 59' when it is spring-biased toits outermost position. In like manner, the armature 56 has a switchblade element 60 which closes the points 61, 61' and 62, 62',respectively, when in its innermost and outermost positions,respectively. The solenoids 53 and 54 are mounted on brackets 53' and54', respectively, in the path of movement of the cage 18, so that thetop 20 of the cage 18 contacts the armature 55 and the bottom 21 of thecage contacts the armature 56 so that when the cage 13 reaches the upperor lower extremity of its travel, the respective solenoid armature 55 or56 is pressed inward against the bias of its spring 55 or 56.

The motor 24 is a reversible type motor having the terminals 63, 64 and65. Terminal63, being the input for driving the motor toraise the cage18 and terminal 65 being the input terminal for driving the motor tolower the cage 18. The terminal 64 is the common ground.

From a source of house current the switch 56 con trols the current tothe traversing motor through the circuit wire 67 which has the branchwires 67a, 6715, the wire 67a having the wires 67c and 67d connected tothe switch points 58 and 59, respectively, and the wire 67b having thewires 67c and 67) connected to the. switch points 61 and 62,respectively. p

With the cage 18 in the position shown in Figure 2 and the switch 66turned on, current will flow through the wire 67b, 67e across the switchpoints 61, 61', the switch blade 64) making this contact due to the biasof the spring of solenoid 54, through Wire 68 to solenoid 53 and thenceto ground, causing solenoid 53 to, retract the armature 55 and completethe circuit across the switch points 53, 58 and switch blade 57. Currentwould, therefore, flow through the wire 67, 67a, 67c, switch point 58,switch blade 57, switch point 58' and wire 6% to terminal 63 of motor 24and lower the heater cage 18. When the cage 18 reaches the lower limitof its travel it contacts the armature 56, breaking the connectionacross the switch points 61, 61 to de-energize the solenoid 53 and causethe armature 55 to be springbiased outwardly to make the contact acrossthe switch points 5% and energize the solenoid 54 by current flowingthrough the wires 67, 674, switch point 59, blade 57, point 59', wire76, and solenoid 54 to ground. At the same time, the current to motorterminal 63 is broken across the switch points 58, 58. When the solenoid54 is energized, the armature 56 is retracted, making a corn tact acrossthe switch points 62, 62'. The current then flows through the wires 67,67b, 67 point 62, blade 64 point 62 and wire 71 to the motor terminal65, to cause cage 18 to be raised. When the cage 18 contacts thearmature 55 at the end of its upward flight, it de-energizes solenoid 54by breaking the contact at points 59, 59. De-energizing solenoid 54makes a contact across points 61, 61' which energizes solenoid 53 toreverse motor 24 by making a contact across the points 58, 58.

Thus the cage 18 will continue to make up and down traversing flightsautomatically, as long as the switch 66 is turned on.

A hanger 72 mounted for sliding movement in tube brackets 73 provides ameans on which to hang clothes to be dried. The hanger 72 may also beused as a support for a plastic cover to prevent water entering thecabinet when the shower (not shown) is being used.

The dryer may also be used for removing the chill from a bathroom onwinter mornings, prior to taking a bath or shower. In this case, onlythe switch 33 would be turned on.

For convenience in illustrating the invention, high voltage solenoidsand a reversing motor with dual windings have been shown. A step-downtransformer and low voltage solenoids, as well as another type ofreversing motor might be used as well.

A platform 74 is provided as a foot rest, to enable the user to dry hisfeet.

In use, the user who has completed his bath or shower turns on theswitches 33 and 66 and slowly rotates his body in front of the heateruntil his body is dry with the exception of his feet. He then restsfirst one foot and then the other on the platform 73 until each of hisfeet are dry, turning them first in one direction and then the other.

While there has been disclosed in the foregoing description a practicalembodiment of the sanitary body 4 dryer in accordance with the presentinvention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvariations in the implementation of the concept of the invention arewithin the purview and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A sanitary body dryer for installation in a bathroom comprising, acabinet having an openwork front, a heater cage having an open frontmounted therein for vertical traversing movement, an electrical fanmounted in said cage to blow air out of said open front of said cage, anelectrical heating coil mounted across said open front of said cage,means including an electrical reversing motor to drive said cage in upand down flights in said cabinet and control means to reverse thedirection of travel of said cage at the end of each of said flights.

2. A sanitary body dryer for installation a bathroom comprising, avertically elongated cabinet having an openwork front, verticallydisposed track means mounted in said cabinet, a heater cage having anopen front aligned with said openwork front of said cabinet, trackfollowers mounted on said cage to engage said tracks in said cabinet formovement of said cage thereon, an electrical fan mounted in said cage tomove air outward through the open front of said cage and said openworkfront of said cabinet, an electrical heating coil mounted in the path ofsaid air being moved out of said cage, means for driving said cage in upand down flights in said cabinet, and control means to reverse thedirection of travel of said cage at the end of each of said flights.

3. A sanitary body dryer for installation in a bathroom comprising, avertically elongated cabinet having an openwork front, verticallydisposed track means mounted in said cabinet, a heater cage having anopen front aligned with said openwork front of said cabinet, trackfollowers mounted on said cage to engage said tracksv in said cabinetfor movement of said cage thereon, an electrical fan mounted in saidcage to move air outward through the open front of said cage and saidopenwork front of said cabinet, an electrical heating coil mounted inthe path of said air being moved out of said cage, an electricalreversing motor mounted adjacent said cabinet, a drum mounted on theshaft of said motor, bracket means extending from the top and bottom ofsaid cage, a belt having its respective ends attached to said cage, saidbelt being looped around said drum, pulley means to guide said belt fromsaid top and bottom of said cage tosaid drum so that when said drum isre volved in one direction said cage will move upwardly in said cabinetand when the drum is revolved in the other direction said cage will movedownwardly in said cabinet, and control means to reverse the directionof travel of said cage at the end of each of said flights.

4. A sanitary body dryer for installation in a bathroom comprising, avertically elongated cabinet having an openwork front, verticallydisposed track means mounted in said cabinet, a heater cage having anopen front aligned with said openwork front of said cabinet, trackfollowers mounted on said cage to engage said tracks in said cabinet formovement of said cage there on, an electrical fan mounted in said cageto move air outward through the open front of said cage and saidopenwork front of said cabinet, an electrical heating coil mounted inthe path of said air being moved out of said cage, means including anelectrical reversing motor to' drive said cage in up and down flights insaid cabinet, an upper limit switch mounted in the path of movement ofsaid cage at the upper limit switch mounted in the path of movement ofsaid cage at the lower limit of its movement, said limit switches beingsolenoids, having their armature engageable by said cage, each of saidsolenoids having switch blades mounted on its'armature, two pairs ofmake and break contacts coupled with each of said solenoids, said makeand break contacts. being en.- gageable. by said switch blades, acircuit including a first pair of said contacts in said upper solenoidto energize the coil in said lower solenoid when said armature of saidupper solenoid is outwardly biased by said spring thereof, a circuitincluding the second pair of said contacts in said upper solenoid toenergize said reversing motor in one direction when said armature ofsaid upper solenoid is retracted by energization of its coil, a circuitincluding a first pair of said contacts in said lower solenoid toenergize the coil in said upper solenoid when said armature of saidlower coil is outwardly biased by said spring thereof, a circuitincluding the second pair of said contacts in said lower solenoid toenergize said reversing motor in the other direction when said armatureof said lower solenoid is retracted by energization of its coil, andsaid solenoids being actuated to reverse the direction of revolution ofsaid motor by the movement of said switch blade of each solenoid awayfrom said first pair of contacts of each solenoid upon impact of saidcage with the armature of each of said solenoids.

5. A sanitary body dryer for installation in a bathroom comprising, avertically elongated cabinet having an openwork front, verticallydisposed track means mounted in said cabinet, a heater cage having anopen front aligned with said openwork front of said cabinet, trackfollowers mounted on said cage to engage said tracks in said cabinet formovement of said cage thereon, an electrical fan mounted in said cage tomove air outward through the open front of said cage and said openworkfront of said cabinet, an electrical heating coil mounted in the path ofsaid air being moved out of said cage, an electrical reversing motormounted adjacent said cabinet, a drum mounted on the shaft of saidmotor, bracket means extending from the top and bottom of said cage, abelt having its respective ends attached to said cage, said belt beinglooped around said drum, pulley means to guide said belt from said topand bottom of said cage to said drum so that when said drum is revolvedin one direction said cage will move upwardly in said cabinet and whenthe drum is revolved in the other direction said cage will movedownwardly in said cabinet, an upper limit switch mounted in the path ofmovement of said cage at the upper limit of its movement, a lower limitswitch mounted in the path of movement of said cage at the lower limitof its movement, said limit switches being solenoids, having theirarmature engageable by said cage, each of said solenoids having switchblades mounted on its armature, two pairs of make and break contactscoupled with each of said solenoids, said make and break contacts beingengageable by said switch blades, a circuit including a first pair ofsaid contacts in said upper solenoid to energize the coil in said lowersolenoid when said armature of said upper solenoid is outwardly biasedby said spring thereof, a circuit including the second pair of saidcontacts in said upper solenoid to energize said reversing motor in onedirection when said armature of said upper solenoid is retracted byenergization of its coil, a circuit including a first pair of saidcontacts in said lower solenoid to energize the coil in said uppersolenoid when said armature of said lower coil is outwardly biased bysaid spring thereof, a circuit including the second pair of saidcontacts in said lower solenoid to energize said reversing motor in theother direction when said armature of said lower solenoid is retractedby energization of its coil, and said solenoids being actuated toreverse the direction of revolution of said motor by the move ment ofsaid switch blade of each solenoid away from said first pair of contactsof each solenoid upon impact of said cage with the armature of each ofsaid solenoids.

6. In a sanitary body dryer as claimed in claim 1, a pair of tubularbrackets mounted adjacent the top of said cabinet at either side of saidopenwork front, and a substantially U-shaped support having each legthereof slidably mounted in one of said tubular brackets, whereby saidsupport may be used for holding articles suspended in front of saidopenwork front.

7. In a sanitary body dryer as claimed in claim 1, a foot rest mountedadjacent the bottom of said cabinet, and said foot rest extending acrossthe bottom of said openwork front and extending outwardly therefrom.

No references cited.

